Method of treating cold crude petroleum or distillate thereof to obtain an explosive mixture for internal-combustion engines.



PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908.

- D. MARTINI. METHOD OF TREATING GOLD CRUDE PETROLEUM OR DISTILLATE THEREOF TO OBTAIN AN 'EXPLOSIVE MIXTURE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10. 1907.

ULILJLILJLIL] V $22 iiiiEti flag/afar flair, i ialffe lvzz' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAN MARTINI, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

METHOD OF TREATING COLD CRUDE PETROLEUM OR DISTILLATE THEREOF TO OBTAIN AN EXPLOSIVE MIXTURE FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed June 10, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAN MARTINI, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at London, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Method of Treating Cold Crude Petroleum or Distillate Thereof to Obtain an Explosive Mixture for Internal- Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of a method of ef fecting an electronic interchange between the ions in crude etroleum or any distillate of petroleum and the ions in atmospheric oxygen, which interchange not only shatters the molecular structure of the hydrocarbons but forms the constituents into new radioactive groups and produces a mixture with high explosive efliciency, and very suitable as an explosive mixture for use in internal combustion engines.

The principle underlying my invention is the discovery that petroleum, in its crude and denser forms, contains properties which have not hitherto beencorrectly defined or put to commercial use. These properties are as follows Crude petroleum contains a substance which behaves like radium and gives the gases obtained from petroleum a high electric conductivity. Electrons, both free and bound, reside to a large extent in the hy-' nition, first decompose into hydrogen and' carbon in primary and secondary reactions but they explode simultaneously when fired by an electric spark. Now according to my said invention, I utilize these properties in the productions of a highly efficient explosive mixture for use in internal combustion engines. For this purpose, I ionize oxygen or atmospheric air and mix this ionized oxygen or air with petroleum or any distillate thereof in the form of a mist or spray and I ionize this mixture by means of a suitable ionizer wherein the said mixture is simultaneously subjected to expansion or preferably to a series of expansions. By this means, an explosive mixture is obtained which is capable of exploding in one chemical reaction, so that a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1908.

Serial No. 378,258.

very complete combustion of the petroleum or of its distillate is obtained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central section of the complete apparatus for carrying out my invention, and

ig. 2 is a view showing a detail of construc tion.

The sparking chamber is constituted by a short length of tube a of glass or other insulating material and which ma be of square cross-section. The width of said chamber is sufficient to permit insertion therein of the electrode plates b, b, which are provided with points on their opposing surfaces and are held at suitable distances apart, e. g. an eighth to a quarter of an inch, by means of grooved or toothed separators c, d of porcelain, ebonite or other suitable insulating material arranged in metal frames e, f. If desired, hollow, preferably cylindrical electrodes can be employed which are arranged coaxially one within the other. When more surface with points is required in a small space, in cases where two coaxial electrodes are employed, the inner electrode as seen endwise isstar-shaped and the slopes of such protruding surfaces are covered with points. The larger electrode must then have internal corrugations corresponding thereto. If the electrodes are made or cast with the said points in longitudinal rows, they should be adjusted so that each row of points on one electrode projects between rows on the opposite electrode. The points must not touch, and on the electrodes being placed in osition, the air s ace between them shou d be the same a 1 round. In cases where the electrodes are of circular cross-section, the tube a is made of corresponding form.

The frames e,f are provided with apertures of suitable size to permit the passage through them of the air or oxygen to be ionized. The lower frame c is rovided with a cylindrical extension 9 whicl f fits into a socket h at the upper or inlet end of a spherical mixing chamber and the upper frame f is provided with a central eye 76 through which extends a hollow bolt or tube Z secured in a transverse bracket m in the mixing chamber 7'. A nut n on the upper screw-threaded end of the tube 1 holds the whole apparatus together. The tubeZ is provided inside the sparking chamber with an external sleeve 0 of suitable insulating material and the central electrodes are cut away in the middle to provide room for said tube. The electrodes b, b may be made of copper or other suitable material for example aluminium which is very suitable on account of its cheapness, conductivity and high ionizing capacity; the sparking points are shown cast with the electrodes. Alternate electrodes are connected together in any suitable manner the conductors leading from said electrodes to the respective poles of the electric generator extending through the apertures in the insulator d and frame f.

Some frictional ionization of the air is obtainable, prior to subjecting it to electric action, by extending the sparking chamber at the air-inlet end and by filling the hollow space so formed with loose co per scra s or turnings which are kept in p ace 6. g. y a strainer made of copper mesh. Atmospheric air, drawn by the suction of the engine through a glass tube filled with copper in this way, has imparted to it an ionization which increases its electrical conductivity three or four times. The lower end of the mixing chamber opens through a tubular passage p into the second or cone chamber and this communication is fitted underneath with a strong valve (1 controlled b a spiral spring 1. spirally disposed witliin sald sphere and inte ral therewith are narrow flanges 8 winding rom the upper to the lower end to give a rotary motion to the mixture 1passing through the chamber. The spherica chamber j is preferably made of aluminium and may be cast integrally with the outer casing t, which contains conical electrodes u, v, or it is cast or made in one piece by itself and screwed to said outer casing as shown in the drawings.

The conical electrodes u, 'v in the second or cone-chamber are made of aluminium or other suitable metal, and are provided with a number of points on their opposing surfaces in a similar manner to the electrode-plates b,

b. In some cases, the said cones may be plain, but they are referably stepped, for exam le, as shown. 11 the latter case, when place one within the other coaxially, the air entering at the apex and passing through between them receives successively and suddenly e. g. a twofold, fourfold, and eightfold expansion before emerging at the base. In the case of plain cones, the expansion is gradual.

The outer cone-electrode u at its upper end extends into and bears against a rin w of insulating material, which fits into t e upper part of the casing t and also serves as a bu ead to prevent the gas from flowing from the mixing chamber 3' through the space between the casin t and the outer cone 1/. instead of throug the annular space or passage between the cones u, v. If desired the space between the casing t and cone to may be also closed at its lower end and a portion of the exhaust gases from the explosion engine passed through it, so as to raise the temperature of the electrodes. The lower end of the cone u is su ported through insulators x, 90 on three brackets y, g, which are pivotally mounted on the lower surface of the casing t, so that they can be swung to one side when it is desired to remove the cone u. The current is transmitted to this outer cone b means of a conductor z extending throug a porcelain or other insulator 2 suitably mounted in the casing t and connected to an external terminal 3.

The cone 2) is mounted within the cone 1/. by means of an insulating sleeve 4 on a tubular pillar 5 through whlch extends the insulated conductor 6 whereby current is transmitted to the said cone, suflicient airspace being left as dielectric between the opposing points of the two electrodes to pre vent sparking at high voltages. The position of the cone 4) relatively to the cone 1/. can be adjusted by roviding the lower end of the pillar 5 witli screw-threads extending through a screw-threaded socket 7 in the lower part of the saucer-shaped base t of the casing t. The pillar 5 is provided with an external handle 8 whereby it may be readily turned, and with a lock-nut 9 for clamping it in any position to which it has been adjusted, so as to enable the a paratus to work with high or low potential e ectrical current. Other suitable adjusting means ma however be provided for this purpose. T e base t of the casing t is provided with an outlet 10 for the ionized explosive mixture, whereby said mixture is conducted to the engine. The sparking chamber, if the fitting thereof to the engine so requires, can be fixed at any angle between the vertical and a right angle in relation to the cone chamber.

The hollow rod or tube 1 in the s arking chamber, contains, centrally disposed therein and having an air space around it, an oil supply pipe 11 connected at its upper end wlth the petroleum storage tank (not shown), suitable means, such as a cook or valve bein provided for regulating the flow of oil throug said pi e. Such oil supply pipe is flared or tapere internall at its ower end 15 where it 1s provided witli a cone 12 suitably secured therein, so as to leave a narrow annular space for the purpose of spreading the oil flowin down the pipe 11 into a conical sheet and 0 thus facilitating its atomization. The 1 passage through the pipe 11 can be shut o by means of a small cup or bulb 18 which contains mercury and is secured to a rod or wire 19 extending u through a hole in the cone 12 and through the bore of the Eiipe 11, whence it passes out through a stu ng-box or in any other suitable manner so as to enable the said bulb to be raised or lowered and thus 0 en and close the lowerend of the tube 11. y this means, when the en ine is not at work, the flow of oil through t e pipe 11 can be effectually shut off by the mercury and at the same time the motion of the rod or wire 19 in the bore of said pipe serves to displace any obstruction that may form therein and thus reduces the risk of interru tion of the oil-feed to a minimum. The hollow rod or tube Z, therefore, serves the double purpose of a bolt and an air shaft to convey ionized air from the sparking cham her to the ionizer or sprayer. Said tube is provided at the base of the sparking chamer with slots 13, 13 into which a ortion of the ionized air from the sparkin chamber is diverted by means of a funne shaped defiector 14 arranged around the same. This diverted current of ionized air moves past the flared lower end 15 of the oil supply-pipe 11 into an enlargement 16 of the lower end of the tube Z, carrying with it the oil. The mixture of oil and air issues from the enlar ement 16 through a series of lateral nozz es 17, 17 and meets the main current ofionized air from the sparking chamber, thus roducing a petroleulnmist of extreme neness. The elasticity of the air is thus used to feed in the oil, and kee s the proportions of oil and air correct. The mixture of the oil spray and air is erfected by the whirling motion imparted t ereto by the spiral flange or flan es s in the chamber 7', which promotes its uniform distribution around the annular s ace between the cones u, v, where it is acte upon by a silent electric discharge and is simultaneously sub'ected to a series of sudden expansions. If esired, the flow of oil from the flared nozzle 1 5 may be governed by a feed-pin or needle-valve extending upwards throu h the bottom of the enlargement 16 an mounted on the spring controlled valve g, which pin when drawn down by the suction stroke of the engine admits a s i ipply of oil to the enlargement 16.

e sparking chamber, in the apparatus soconstructed, has for its object the ionization of the oxygen in the air drawn therethrou 'h by the suction stroke of the engine. T e source of electricity may be an alternating current generator supplying current at about 4000 v0 ts and upwards. The fre uency of the alternating current em loyed s ould be at least high enough to enable waves of one to three meters long to be produced.

For example, let v denote velocity of propagation.

A wave length.

T period ofoscillatlon. n requency. 7t 'v 1 Then T .n- X but n- Taking the Or in terms of the period of oscillation When /\=1 meter, period of oscillation=3.3 10' per second.

u u u u u IGXIW, H

The effect of the electric stresses set u by this current, which is referably a sparking discharge, is to cause e ectrons to be set free and go from one point to another. Ioniza tion occurs on the electrons being shot into the molecules of the ox gen of the air passing through the ionizer an throwing these molecules into disorder. Above 5,500 volts the majority of the ions in the oxygen are negatively charged and acquire sufiicient velocity to generate other ions by collision.

The second casing or cone chamber is designed to enable the oxygen ions to capture the petroleum spray or fog in the right proportion. What is chiefi required at this sta e is to get the exact e ree of expansion in t e mixture that will in uce the particles of oil not only to condense upon the ions, but will also maintain each tiny s here in the mist in stable equilibrium. The 0st of ions initially supersaturated with oil on entering this chamber, requires only a slight ex ansion to form the mixture into a cloud. t is precisely at this point that the great difliculty 1n petroleum as a fuel is met with, and has to be overcome. The process here is not merely an expansion of the mixture. It is an expansion of the ions, involving a chemical transformation, 71. 6., to break the complex ring and chain molecules in the heavy hydrocarbons into simpler structures lower down in the same series without cracking the component molecules.

After the primary collision of ions and petroleum in the sphere and the mixture reaches the entrance to the cone chamber, an expansion of 1.25 times the volume is necessary to induce further condensation of the oil on the negative ions. Similar condensation on the positive ions takes lace when the expansion is between 1.31 an 1.38 times greater than the initial volume. The mixture then has an appearance like fo When the mixture reaches the eight old expansion, near the base of the cone cham her, it has the required cloudlike formation and is little afiected by the leakage from the points. Each corpuscle has all the charge it is able to carry.

An explosive mixture prepared in the manner herein described from the cleanest Pennsylvania crude petroleum has an electric conductivity over eight hundred times greater than normal an. A very poor sample so prepared from the same field has a conductivit which exceeds that of air 114 times. Russian and Roumanian crude petroleum similarly treated have from to 600 times hi her conductivity than air. The average of a crude oils will be found in practice to exceed air over 400 times. To arrive at a fairly correct measurement, 3.4x 10- electrostatic units may be taken as the charge on the ion.

It is wholly due to the presence of the radio-active substance or emanation in petroleum referred to at the beginning of the specification, and the bringing of its energies into operation, in. conjunction with the ionizedv oxygenated. molecules, as described, that the crude oil and its heavier distillates can be effectively used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. The extreme conductivity of this radioactive element, or substance, carries the electric spark instantaneously throughout the mixture in the cylinder, with the result that the whole ionized oxygenated .hydrocarbon body explodes completely and simultaneously in one chemical reaction, and not successively in primary and secondary reactions.

The number of ions produced is dependent upon the intensity of the electric dlscharge and can be determined by the conductivity of the gas after being subjected to said dis charge. The best petrol, that is hexane 0 H gives, when intensity of discharge and ionization are plotted, a curve which is almost a straight line. With an equal amount of ionized oxygen the ionization of the gaseous mixture gradually decreases as the molecular weights increase, so that to compensate for this the amount of ionized oxygen should be increased to correspond with the molecular ratios.

Two nonanes, a and p, are the primary constituents of kerosene oil which is comosed almost wholly of f paraffins, C,,,H,,, he Pennsylvania is s ightly more ionizable in its crude state than olefines C E, and naphthenes O H fiH which are the chief hydrocarbons in Russian and Roumanian petroleums: The two latter ive better results in the cylinder with a ittle stronger electric charge as hereinafter specified, This is due to the fact that their bound electrons are harder to dislodge. With all petroleums the papacity of the ionizing apparatus is nearly equal to the piston dis lacement.

fien a chemical series is poorer in hydrogen it readily separates carbon as soot and is more difficult to explode. Ionized ozone, obtained from any known tube or plate apparatus, or compressed oxygen, is in such cases supplied as an auxiliary to the sparking chamber and enriches the mixture. One gram molecule of ozone sets free 29,600 calories, and adds to the heat units and consequently to efficiency. Ozone decomposes in direct ratio to increase of ressure, but in an ionized form it is muc more persistent and the loss in the compression chamber is small at seventy or more revolutions of the engine per minute.

As coke and other tarry products, in the fuel as herein described, can only result from imperfect oxidation I have no trouble with it. The a paratus and cylinder remain clean. Car on, it may be noted, is much more easily ionized in its corpuscle state thannormal air. Ionization gives any sulfur in the oil about ninety per cent. greater conductivity. Exhaust gases sometimes show a Very small loss in nitrogen. For want of a better term, I may say it disappears by chemical induction.

Crude petroleum contains so much grit and dirt that it must first be carefully strained. Any distillate used in the apparatus should also be strained to remove 1mpurities which may have collected in it.

The electric current for producing the electric field in the second or cone chamber is preferably alternating. It must not be less than four thousand volts, if pure Pennsylvania crude is used. Ro'umanian crude requires a minimum of 5,500 volts; and Russian, Ohio, Texas, California, Borneo and Trinidad oils give better efliciency with voltage from 6,000 upwards. For motor cabs and omnibuses, a small dynamo with suitable transformer gives sufficient current. The magneto, in such vehicles, can be arranged for the purpose by uttin an interrupter in the.primary 001 of t e electric transformer used for raising the potential of the current produced by the magneto.

Having now fully described and ascertained my said invention and the manner in which it is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. A process for the production of an explosive mixture for use in internal combustion engines, said process consisting in ionizing petroleum in the form of a mist, s ray or vapor by mixing it with an ionize gas containing oxygen. 5

2. A process for the production of an explosive mixture for use in internal combustion engines, said process consisting in mixing ionized atmospheric air with petroleum in the form of a mist, spray or vapor.

' 3. A process for the production of an explosive mixture for use in internal combustion engines, said process consisting in ionizing a gas containing oxygen and mixing it with petroleum in the form of a mist, spra or vapor and ionizing the mixture and simu taneously subjecting it to expansion.

4. A process for the production of an explosive mixture for use in internal combustion'engines, said process consisting in ionizing a gas containing oxygen and mixing it with petroleum in the form of a mist, spray or vapor, ionizing the mixture in order to produce a system of ionized oxygenated molecules, and simultaneously subjecting this system to a series of expansions.

5. A process for the production of an explosive mixture for use in internal combustion engines, said process consisting in mixing ionized atmospheric air with petroleum in the form of amist, spray or vapor and ionizing the mixture and simultaneously subjectini it to expansion.

6. process for the production of an expl osive mixture for use in internal combustion engines, said process consisting in mixing an ionized gas containing oxygen partly in the condition of ozone with petroleum in the 10 form of a mist or spray.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

- DAN MARTINI. Witnesses:

GEo. HARRISON, ALEXANDER W. ALLEN. 

